Framecrazy
CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
does anyone use a daylight lamp or full spectrum light? Are they worth the moola?
Lighting
- Thread starter Framecrazy
- Start date
If you have T8 fixtures (electronic ballast- takes slimmer tube), I recommend
GE F32T8-SP35-IS-WM-ECO
Tone: Neutral 3500°K, CRI=78 (Approx. $2.08 from Grainger)
or
GE F32T8-SP X 35
Tone: Enhanced Cool (CRI=86) (Approx. $3.62)
Rick
GE F32T8-SP35-IS-WM-ECO
Tone: Neutral 3500°K, CRI=78 (Approx. $2.08 from Grainger)
or
GE F32T8-SP X 35
Tone: Enhanced Cool (CRI=86) (Approx. $3.62)
Rick
Bill Henry-
Brussel Sprout Connoisseur
It has always seemed to me that daylight florescent lights are are unnecessary for a frame shop.
Most people are going to view their art under incandescent bulbs at home, a much warmer, softer light than the harsher, bluer daylight kind.
Daylight bulbs would probably be better than the standard greenish florescent lamps, but until they come out with tubes in the 3000° K. range that won’t break the bank, I don’t see any need to switch to daylight.
It always puzzles me why people take their mat and frame selections to the window. We have a bank of track lights which, I believe, are in the 3800° K. range. We encourage the customers to view their selection under them instead of dragging their stuff to the window.
Most people are going to view their art under incandescent bulbs at home, a much warmer, softer light than the harsher, bluer daylight kind.
Daylight bulbs would probably be better than the standard greenish florescent lamps, but until they come out with tubes in the 3000° K. range that won’t break the bank, I don’t see any need to switch to daylight.
It always puzzles me why people take their mat and frame selections to the window. We have a bank of track lights which, I believe, are in the 3800° K. range. We encourage the customers to view their selection under them instead of dragging their stuff to the window.
Jerry Ervin
PFG, Picture Framing God
Yes
Yes
You will never go back to the 'yellow' looking "cool white" ever.
Yes
You will never go back to the 'yellow' looking "cool white" ever.
What Bill says is right- you want to try to have a mix of lighting that will approximate what people will be using at home when they view their artwork. Ideally, this would probably be a mixture of natural light, incandescent, and some fluorescent. What would be really neat would be to have all 3 available in the design area with adjustments to vary the amounts of each according to the customer's description of their situation. Realistically, though, we have to do the best we can with what we have. In my shop we have a mix of natural light, halogen floods, and "daylight" (slightly bluer than regular) incandescent right over the design table. This seems to work very well. Back in the workroom all the overhead lighting is fluorescent, so I use the GE F32T8-SP35-IS-WM-ECO tubes back there. Obviously it gives a different feel than what we have in the front area (which is really noticeable with the browner shades of anodized metal frames), but these give good color rendition on their own and provide good overall lighting. You probably want to avoid going past 3500°K. The fluorescents sold as "Daylight" are usually 5000°K which is pretty harsh like full midday sun. You'd have to wear sunglasses to work.
Rick
Rick
nona powers
MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Finding the most natural light source that will illuminate the colors in the art will help immensely to correctly design art. The art can be pushed from cool to warm and the form from from advancing to receding, so the real dominant hues in the composition cannot be seen by the designer. In California, because of the global warming situation, people are encouraged to use florescent bulbs everywhere, which they are doing, so you can't count on warm light in every home. Also the light source can change the mat color in your shop compared to the mat color in the home but not the art due to metamerism. Going to the window for indirect, not direct, natural light is a tool to see colors more accurately. The natural bulbs last a lot longer than regular ones so they are worth the cost in more ways than one. By the way, they do not duplicate natural light perfectly, but are as close as we can get artificially.
This is a common sales pitch for higher-priced lamps, and it usually is not verifiable. Disregard the sales pitch and find the manufacturer's published ratings for the lamps. Nearly all traditional fluorescent lamps, regardless of the internal gasses that determine their colors, are rated for 20,000 hours. I don't know ratings for the newer fluorescent lamps intended to replace incandescent lamps.
Incandescent lamps generally have a life expectancy of 2,000 to 5,000 hours, depending on the design. However, actual life is determined by the voltage at the socket. A bulb rated for 130 volts will last much longer if used at 120 volts, for instance, and the reverse is also true. Life will be reduced for a 120 volt lamp used at 125 volts.
Jim, aside from the rated lifespan of fluorescent tubes, doesn't their output (lumens) diminish as they age? I'm thinking of replacing mine soon for that reason. It just seems dimmer back there.
:kaffeetrinker_2: Rick
:kaffeetrinker_2: Rick
Hi Rick:
Lumen output will be close to what the label says for most of the lamp's rated life. But you're right -- it starts out somewhat brighter than the rating, and diminishes slightly over time. Around the end of the lamp's expected life it should still be producing close to rated lumens, then the light output begins to drop off more dramatically.
In typical commercial applications, the 20,000-hour rated life of traditional fluorescent tubes translates to about 3-5 years. Perhaps 10% of the lamps will go dark prematurely, but most of them will produce increasingly-diminishing light for hundreds or even thousands of hours beyond their ratings. Some of them will glow for a decade or more, long past their time of producing useful lumen output.
Fluorescent fixtures should be "relamped" (lamps replaced) after about 20,000 hours. The few lamps that go dark before that time may be replaced, but keep in mind that seeing light from an old fluorescent lamp does not mean it is producing the rated amount of light.
In terms of energy usage, fluorescent lamps consume full wattage for as long as they are in the sockets -- whether they are still producing their full rated light output or not. A ballast normally serves two lamps, and itself consumes about the same wattage as one of the lamps. So, keeping fluorescent lamps beyond their useful life wastes power for not only the lamps, but also their ballasts.
If you don't need all of the light produced by the fixtures with good lamps, don't just let them diminish. Instead, it is wiser to keep fresh lamps in use, and disconnect the ballasts for the ones not needed.
Lumen output will be close to what the label says for most of the lamp's rated life. But you're right -- it starts out somewhat brighter than the rating, and diminishes slightly over time. Around the end of the lamp's expected life it should still be producing close to rated lumens, then the light output begins to drop off more dramatically.
In typical commercial applications, the 20,000-hour rated life of traditional fluorescent tubes translates to about 3-5 years. Perhaps 10% of the lamps will go dark prematurely, but most of them will produce increasingly-diminishing light for hundreds or even thousands of hours beyond their ratings. Some of them will glow for a decade or more, long past their time of producing useful lumen output.
Fluorescent fixtures should be "relamped" (lamps replaced) after about 20,000 hours. The few lamps that go dark before that time may be replaced, but keep in mind that seeing light from an old fluorescent lamp does not mean it is producing the rated amount of light.
In terms of energy usage, fluorescent lamps consume full wattage for as long as they are in the sockets -- whether they are still producing their full rated light output or not. A ballast normally serves two lamps, and itself consumes about the same wattage as one of the lamps. So, keeping fluorescent lamps beyond their useful life wastes power for not only the lamps, but also their ballasts.
If you don't need all of the light produced by the fixtures with good lamps, don't just let them diminish. Instead, it is wiser to keep fresh lamps in use, and disconnect the ballasts for the ones not needed.
When I had all "day light" lamps it was horrible. It was so bright white and cool that it blasted away all colors. I mixed in some warmer lamps to balance it. Warmer lamps brought back colors that were washed away.
At my current shop I had all incandescents and it was way warm. It was like a den and so I added a nice pendant light over the counter with a fluorescent lamp to whiten the place.
All in all my approach is to make the light as comfortable to the eye as possible. That's how people are naturally going to make their habitats.
At my current shop I had all incandescents and it was way warm. It was like a den and so I added a nice pendant light over the counter with a fluorescent lamp to whiten the place.
All in all my approach is to make the light as comfortable to the eye as possible. That's how people are naturally going to make their habitats.
Framecrazy
CGF, Certified Grumble Framer
I don't think I'd want flourescent throughout but maybe in my work area. I have a friend with an old furniture shop and he just had me replace all of his decorative art because the flourescent lights had faded all of his prints.
But I hate when you think you've finished a piece and you walk outside to load in in the truck and see a hair or smudge in the daylight you honestly didn't see before. The space I'm looking at has twenty foot ceilings so I'm think maybe a work lamp might be all I'd need.
But I hate when you think you've finished a piece and you walk outside to load in in the truck and see a hair or smudge in the daylight you honestly didn't see before. The space I'm looking at has twenty foot ceilings so I'm think maybe a work lamp might be all I'd need.
Paul N
SPFG, Supreme Picture Framing God
There is a trio of short Fluorescent lights over the design counter. Aside from he unnatural light, it was messing up the visualization system.
One quick and good solution: Wrapped some fabric on a mat (B8535 I believe), placed under the lights and held in place by the enclosure. Much softer and more natural.
One quick and good solution: Wrapped some fabric on a mat (B8535 I believe), placed under the lights and held in place by the enclosure. Much softer and more natural.